The Palmer House’s front garden has been drawing quite a bit of interest this summer. Angelica is a native herb of continental Europe. The origin of its name is from at story about a monk, who when praying for a cure for the plague, was visited by St. Michael the Archangel, and was shown the [...][Continue Reading...]

Two years ago we transplanted two peony plants. I thought that we had lost them until I went walking behind the Thoreau Cottage garden this year and was delighted to find these lovely flowers. I guess that they just needed a little time to recover from the stress of being transplanted. I am [...][Continue Reading...]

I am so proud of these beautiful lilies. Most of the trees flowers and shrubs that are in the gardens have been purchased at our local nurseries, however these lilies were an impulse buy at one of our local supermarkets. They were pretty last year but this year they are outshining themselves in [...][Continue Reading...]

The mountain laurel is one of my favorite flowers. Bill and I even named one of our daughters after these lovely pink blossoms. We do not have any mountains on the cape, but we do have a quiet shady corner of the Inn’s property where this beautiful bush thrives.[Continue Reading...]

Cape Cod is known for its beautiful hydrangeas and the Palmer House gardens have several types. We have the classic white and blue pom poms, and the lace caps that are in bloom now. We also have conical hydrangeas that will bloom later in the season. They are so abundant this year that [...][Continue Reading...]

This year I decided to have a pot of stephanotis by the entrance door of the inn. They are a lovely white flower and have a beautiful fragrance. I especially enjoy looking at them as I pass by because they were one of the flowers in my wedding bouquet.[Continue Reading...]

Each year on March 30th I plant the first pansies. The splashes of color in the window boxes and planters look festive after the long gray winter. As you can see by now they are in full bloom. In the past I have been able to keep them blooming right into November by keeping up [...][Continue Reading...]

The Palmer House Inn’s May basket won first place on the traditional category. I’m quite pleased. This is a fun event to start the spring in Cape Cod. It was judged by the Village Association members. Now the challenge will be to come up with something special for next year.[Continue Reading...]

Many of our guests have enjoyed watching our neighborhood’s family of red-tailed hawks while visiting The Palmer House. As you can see from the photos they are very beautiful and are outstanding hunters. The hawk in our photos is young. It is probably less than a year old. We can tell this because its plumage [...][Continue Reading...]

Put the ho-ho-ho into hostess and holidays gifts. This year’s “Gifts from the Kitchen” series with Culinary Director Gail Blakely features three different classes with all new make-and-take recipes and ideas for[...]